Spoilers Star Trek: Discovery 2x11 - "Perpetual Infinity"

[Lord Garth]

IIRC they were upset she cut her hair short.

I looked up the story and here's an interview with Licia Naff, who played Sonya Gomez.

Cutting and pasting the relevant parts...
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Gomez seemed primed to be a recurring character and a love interest for Geordi, but it ended up being just the two episodes. What happened?

I was told that Gomez was going to evolve into Geordi's love interest, but the dialogue and the way I was directed to play the part was more comic relief than love interest. When it came time to possibly renew me as a recurring role in the next season, I was told that producers thought Gomez was too funny to be the type of love interest that would cause Geordi to get a possibly fatal operation to see me. That was the endgame. Geordi was to fall so deeply in love with me that he'd risk his life to have eye surgery in order to see me. Apparently, the character of Gomez was written comically and didn't match what they really wanted in the end. I was super-bummed when I got the news.

Please share the story about you cutting your hair…

After I shot the two episodes and was told that I was NOT coming back next season, I told the producers “Thank you for the opportunity” and that I was planning to cut my hair length by a few inches, which I did. Little did I know that a few weeks later, the producers wanted me back for a re-shoot of the hallway scene. At that point, they saw my hair didn't match earlier shots and we had to scramble to add extensions to match the previous length. I'm surprised anyone knows that. If I was told to not cut my hair, I never would have, but I'd been completely wrapped from the part with no hope of returning.
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So it looks like they didn't fire her because she cut her hair. They already decided not to continue the character for the third season and told her she wouldn't be coming back. So she cut a few inches off, and then found out they had to do pick-up shots for one of the episodes she was in, and they couldn't because her hair didn't match anymore... and they couldn't be bothered to get hair extensions for her.

 

[Mr Awe]

To be honest - this is probably the episode that turns me off from this series entirely. Especially since it's pretty much inevitable they go the Borg route.

Wow, you're really jumping to conclusions there! I think the odds of this being the origins of the Borg are pretty small.

Even if this is their origin story, which would not be consistent with canon, they would not be battling the Borg as we know them in the future. In fact, they'd go off and evolve off-screen on the far side of the galaxy until TNG (well an ENT). I doubt they'd even reappear in Discovery.

But, it's unlikely to be the Borg origin. Might as well wait to see actually happens!

 

[Mr Awe]

I'm ready for a new peril after 53 years, one that might actually happen. And a show that lets serious bad things happen, so when the stakes are high, the bad effect might come to pass.

If you want that, there are very few series for you to watch! I listed a couple upthread. I'm not sure if there are others because I don't watch a lot. But, it's extremely rare.

 

[Reyman]

Is it really any worse than Voyager? That show had Tuvok as a Starfleet mole in the Maquis, Seska as a Cardassian/Kazon mole in the Maquis/Starfleet, Michael Jonas as a Kazon mole, Seven of Nine as a Borg mole (when the episode depended on it).

Voyager done that in over 170ish episodes. Discovery has done it in about 25, so yeah it's worse, much worse.

 

[Rahul]

Wow, you're really jumping to conclusions there! I think the odds of this being the origins of the Borg are pretty small.

Even if this is their origin story, which would not be consistent with canon, they would not be battling the Borg as we know them in the future. In fact, they'd go off and evolve off-screen on the far side of the galaxy until TNG (well an ENT). I doubt they'd even reappear in Discovery.

But, it's unlikely to be the Borg origin. Might as well wait to see actually happens!

Let me say it this way: If it turns out NOT to be the Borg, and only be a Easter egg or a slight nod (say, future Control was aware of Borg technology and tried to mimick the assimiliation part) - it'd be time to rewatch the last few episodes in a much, much, much more favourible light.

Right now, it looks like a car accident in slow motion, where the worst part technically hasn't happened yet, but you can pretty much picture the outcome already, and it's going to be gut-wrenching.

 

[Lord Garth]

Let me say it this way: If it turns out NOT to be the Borg, and only be a Easter egg or a slight nod (say, future Control was aware of Borg technology and tried to mimick the assimiliation part) - it'd be time to rewatch the last few episodes in a much, much, much more favourible light.

Right now, it looks like a car accident in slow motion, where the worst part technically hasn't happened yet, but you can pretty much picture the outcome already, and it's going to be gut-wrenching.

Sort of like arresting Braxton in "Relativity" for crimes he's going to commit.

 

[Rahul]

Sort of like arresting Braxton in "Relativity" for crimes he's going to commit.

Hey, I didn't chose the time-travel aspect of the conondrum! It appeared on itself, in a bright red light!

 

[Gonzo]

@Rahul, that was really harsh, but I can't really disagree with any of your points. I really, really hope that the Borg thing is a fake out, but it probably isn't.

Unfortunately it is looking like it could be the Borg, I can live with it but I do appreciate that some of you can not.

Its not certain yet although certain aspects of the episode did scream Borg to me such as Controls comment about struggle and the green nanobots, if it is the Borg it looks like it could actually be something different due to the alternative future created by Burnham or her mothers interference, which will require some sort of reset to undo.

Spock does like to keep saying how the future is mutable but if they are intending to stick to what we saw in ToS onward that is incorrect, the way he keeps saying it makes me wonder if we are being softened up for big changes.

Makes me wonder if the Borg were the plan all along or something that was changed when Berg and Harberts were sacked.

 

[plynch]

Why do I have no problem with a Borg origin story? Hm. So many people are. I like the fact that we created our worst nightmare through messin' with AI. A cautionary tale for our times. This now seems more Star Trekky.

 

[Turtletrekker]

The actress was SUPPOSED to become a more major character and love interest for Geordi. (No I'm not kidding that was the plan when she was cast.) Why they didn't follow through with that plan, IDK.

Getting involved with someone under his command wouldn't even be the most inappropriate thing Geordi Laforge has done for romance.

 

[Yistaan]

Getting involved with someone under his command wouldn't even be the most inappropriate thing Geordi Laforge has done for romance.

He'd just be following Captain Picard's example...

Jellico's brain probably couldn't handle just how much the Enterprise crew tries to get away with.

 

[Turtletrekker]

He'd just be following Captain Picard's example...

And it worked much better as a Picard story that it would have as a Laforge story. I actually just rewatched Lessons a couple days ago, and thought it did a great job in showing why it was not a good idea to get involved with someone under your command.

 

[fireproof78]

Why do I have no problem with a Borg origin story? Hm. So many people are. I like the fact that we created our worst nightmare through messin' with AI. A cautionary tale for our times. This now seems more Star Trekky.

We can have that without the Borg element.

 

[Rahul]

Why do I have no problem with a Borg origin story? Hm. So many people are. I like the fact that we created our worst nightmare through messin' with AI. A cautionary tale for our times. This now seems more Star Trekky.

Couple of things:

1. As a "cautionary tale" this is useless - it's "A.I evil. Leads to Apocalypse". Stuff like "Terminator" get's away with that - because it's not really about that story, but cool robots fighting. But even stuff like Will Smith's "I, robot" was a more in-depth exploration - as in, robots might take over because of their need to protect us - e.g. seeing less people die under robot control, than under human control. That worked both as a cautionary tale (unexpected consequences - they didn't wanted to rule us for self-serving reasons, but because of misunderstood programming), and it wasn't as black and white as this tale is (robots evil. They gain sentience - they destroy us)
   
2. It robs the Borg of ANY mystery. The biggest failure of Rodley Scott's "Prometheus" (and the flooped "Alien Covenant") was how it made the Alien just the result of human meddling. Wheras movies like "Alien 3" were just not sucessfull - this reboot straight up killed the brand. Likewise - this story will kill the Borg as interesting antagonists forever
3. the very, very ick-y side-effect of the Federation now being responsible for the most devastating decimation of sentient life in the galaxy. It's okay for a cautionary tale to affect yourself (TOS "A taste of Armageddon" is GREAT). Especially since this has no effect on the relationship between the Federation and the Borg - this is a super pointless attempt at grim-dark deconstructing what made Star Trek good.
4. Also, it completely undermines the entire theme that all the Borg stories - and Star Trek as a whole - was built upon: Exploration. It all comes down to small-universe syndrome and superhero origin badguys stories now. Gone is the prospect of a big, unknown universe full of wonders and scary things - where stuff like the Borg lurk wether or not you seek them out, but you might run the risk of running into them anyway. Or not. Now everything is now lazy A-to-B small universe-syndrome connect-the-dots storytelling, where exploration doesn't matter, and everything comes down to fighting good vs. evil.

 

[fireproof78]

Likewise - this story will kill the Borg as interesting antagonists forever

I agree with most of your points, but, in my opinion, the Borg have not been interesting for a long time. This would only confirm their death.

 

[kirk55555]

Ok, so, this Control storyline is kind of weak. Evil AI is overdone, Star Trek really, really didn't need it. Its not a compelling antagonist, and it has a bunch of bullshit powers that only exist for the plot and not because they make sense. I'm still liking the show this season overall, but I'm a bit disappointed with this Control stuff.

 

[Longinus]

As it has been pointed out, which makes this 'evil A.I.' plot particularly weak, is that we never saw the Control functioning properly.

 

[Rahul]

I agree with most of your points, but, in my opinion, the Borg have not been interesting for a long time. This would only confirm their death.

I'm of that weird opinion that VOY has done some of the best Borg stories overall - it just were the ones where they weren't fighting Borg cubes in ship-to-ship battles. But I really liked it how they loomed over everything, informed Seven of Nine's backstory, multiple species they encountered, and while I think the space-battles with them really were lazy, everytime Janeway and the Queen chewed the scenery or people ran away in dark corridors chased by Borg drones adapting shields were actually great entertainment.

And, oh yeah, "Scorpion". That is IMO almost as good as "Best of both Worlds". Not quite as clever - but makes up for it with some great spectacle.

I think the Borg still are a very interesting concept - the best "evil" Star Trek race in fact. Just that they haven't been handled that great recently. ("Alien 3" to "Alien vs. Predator" come to mind). But still full of potential if someone would tap them with a new idea, and just a neat thing to have around.

But retrofitting them this way to Section 31 and humans' "Control" would kill the concept of the Borg itself - in a way the classic "Alien" is now dead as a concept (as of "Alien:Covenant"), and only salvagable in a complete reboot that ditches all the new recent backstory.

 

[Rahul]

As it has been pointed out, which makes this 'evil A.I.' plot particularly weak, is that we never saw the Control functioning properly.

That's probably the single biggest narrative mismanagement of the entire season arc so far, and the biggest sign that something behind the scenes went awfully wrong.

 

[Photoman15]

I looked up the story and here's an interview with Licia Naff, who played Sonya Gomez.


Please share the story about you cutting your hair…

After I shot the two episodes and was told that I was NOT coming back next season, I told the producers “Thank you for the opportunity” and that I was planning to cut my hair length by a few inches, which I did. Little did I know that a few weeks later, the producers wanted me back for a re-shoot of the hallway scene. At that point, they saw my hair didn't match earlier shots and we had to scramble to add extensions to match the previous length. I'm surprised anyone knows that. If I was told to not cut my hair, I never would have, but I'd been completely wrapped from the part with no hope of returning.
.
.
.

So it looks like they didn't fire her because she cut her hair. They already decided not to continue the character for the third season and told her she wouldn't be coming back. So she cut a few inches off, and then found out they had to do pick-up shots for one of the episodes she was in, and they couldn't because her hair didn't match anymore... and they couldn't be bothered to get hair extensions for her.

Did YOU bother to read her quote. She said they had to scramble to get extensions to do the reshoot(s).